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Review 2 of 49
Price Paid:
$340.00
from Local Store Summary:
“To Cable or not to Cable?”
I am positive here: cables make a difference!
But is this a good or a bad thing? In most cases it is not very good…most companies nowdays seem to be able to predict the acoustic effect of a cable (possibly using computers) and they manipulate the signal so that it sounds as desired…
This behavior does not fit my goal: I want to hear the real thing (as close as I can get to it anyway) and NOT your cables guys, I’ m sorry!
Rumor had it that Kimber were “sharp” cables. Did I mention I can’ t stand “sharp”??? Well I hate it. But I love analysis. The beauty of seeing the instruments floating independently in space…this is a blessing.
So having in mind Kimber=sharp, I never tried Kimbers…
Not until a pair of Hero interconnects were sighted used at a low price…at the time I was looking for a replacement for VDH 102mkIII on a secondary source (FM radio). Well, the Hero cable was too good for the money, except a minor metallic timber in the vocals (maybe not a fault of the cable itself). So the door for Kimber stayed open…
Lately I realized that the “air” of the high frequencies was thick and dense in my system…I could not blame any component for this (they have been selected with so much care and pain) except for the speaker cables or the speakers themselves.
Thank God I chose to start with the most inexpensive part to replace…
It has been a week now that a single run of Kimber 8TC (8ft) carry the burden to feed them Spendors with signal.
Not fully broken in, I love what this cable does for me…
1. Balance: no particular emphasis anywhere in the spectrum, results in a very detailed but at the same time relaxed presentation. Bass is not as strong as my previous cable, but this is good as it unveils information at the lower end that used to be covered.
2. Analysis: tons of masked info came to light. Breathing, smacking lips, pops and cracks on wooden floors, piano pedals, you name it…
3. Lively: music seems to be…well…more musical! Instruments are more lifelike, same with voices, no colorations, just the real timbre.
4. Transparent: no more instruments glued together. Each one has its own well defined space, especially high frequency percussion is alive and vivid (and it does sound as percussion).
5. Expanded: music occupies more space. Instruments come from all-over the place. Behind, left and right of the speakers. Live performances are so much more realistic…
These are just first impressions. The cables have been in use for less than 30 hours, I expect further improvements in time.
Summary: this is a top-sounding-cable regardless of price. It does so many things right that you just can’t focus on anything negative. I am so impressed that I think I will replace all cabling in my system with Kimber. This is my top recommendation for a speaker cable. If you intend to spend more, keep the money and enjoy other things too…
If I changed the speakers and got the same effect, I would say I made a very good choice, now I just can’t say enough!
System info:
Spendor S8e, 2way floorstanders
TACT (Lyngdorf) SDA2175, semi-digital power amplifier
Pass X2 line preamplifier
Marantz SA17S1 SACD/ CD player
Interconnects: VDH Integration (XLR), Kimber Hero (RCA), Ultralink, Monster, others.
Strengths:
Detailed and "airy" without sharp edges at high frequencies. Balanced presentation without emphasis on specific spectral areas. Extreme value! Weaknesses:
None at this price point, personally I would not go any further than this. Similar Products Used:
Audioquest midnight plus, Audioquest Type 4, Ultralink bi-wire
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